Audio Player
The world is always in motion—sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse—but never static. We can sit and watch history unfold, lamenting its course, or we can take hold of the tiller and steer. The question is: What three things can you do right now to take you where you want to be? This is not a rhetorical exercise, but a call to action, a practical way to hold ourselves accountable in an age when opinions are easily shared but action is often scarce.It is easy, in the modern world, to mistake words for deeds. The rise of social media has given us platforms from which we broadcast our outrage, our solidarity, and our deepest convictions. But, as Winston Churchill once observed, “It is no use saying, ‘We are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.” Sharing an article or composing a pointed comment may feel like a step toward change, but too often, it is a mere echo in the chamber of the like-minded. The harder work—the real work—is what comes next.
First, establish accountability. Even the greatest minds in history recognized that change does not happen in isolation. Thomas Jefferson had James Madison. Henry Ford had Thomas Edison. I, myself, pay a business manager to ask me this very question each week: What three things can you do right now to take meaningful steps forward? We need people in our lives who challenge us, who demand not just our good intentions but our good results. Accountability transforms wishful thinking into concrete progress.
Second, define your contribution. We all have strengths, and we all have responsibilities. John F. Kennedy famously declared, “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” The same principle applies to our work, our communities, our families. What do you have to give? What expertise, what skills, what time can you commit? Change does not come from general good intentions; it comes from specific, directed efforts.
Third, act. The words of Theodore Roosevelt ring as true today as they did a century ago: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” The world is full of problems so vast they seem insurmountable. But solutions do not come from despairing at the size of the mountain; they come from taking the first step, then the next. No one person can fix the world, but every person can do something.
These three principles—accountability, contribution, and action—are not just strategies for personal growth. They are strategies for progress at every level, from individual ambition to national leadership. They are the foundation upon which civilizations rise and the method by which history’s great figures made their mark.
So, I ask you now: What three things will you do—right now—to take meaningful steps toward a productive solution? It is, sadly, an exercise few have the courage to do. Where do you stand.
The world is waiting for your answer.
